The Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons is expected to miss four to six weeks of action as he is set to undergo thumb surgery, the team confirmed on Friday. The 24-year-old player injured his thumb during Portland’s season-opening 123-111 loss to the LA Clippers on Wednesday night.

The Trail Blazers confirmed that Simons underwent an MRI on Monday that revealed a tear to the ulnar collateral ligament in the thumb. Having made 18 points during the game, Simons had to be replaced by Shaedon Sharpe, who started Friday’s 97-102 loss against Orlando Magic.

“Ant’s the kind of player that he’s gained a type of respect where whether he’s making shots or not, you have to play him a certain way,” coach Chauncey Billups commented. “You game plan for him. We’ll miss that. We’ll miss, obviously, his shot-making and his play-making. You miss those things.”

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The Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard scored 60 points for the fourth time in his career to lift his team to a 134-124 win over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night. In addition to the high total, Lillard also turned heads with his efficiency, needing just 29 shots and 10 free throws to do so.

Rick Barry in 1974 is the only player to have equaled Lillard’s tally with fewer free throw attempts. As a result, Lillard posted the highest true shooting percentage (.898) ever in a 60-point game.

“That was incredible, man,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups exclaimed after Lillard’s performance. “You don’t get to see that very often, to be that efficient. For a guy to score 60 points and only 10 free throws and make nine of them, you’re thinking either this dude has an absurd amount of 3s. It was just incredible how efficient he was.”

Lillard also proved to be a highly-precise shooter from distance, scoring nine three-pointers to tie for the second-most in history in a 60-point game. The record for the most three-pointers is also held by Lillard himself.

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The Portland Trail Blazers defeated the New York Knicks 85-77 on Sunday to lift the 2022 NBA summer league championship, marking the team’s third appearance in the final and second title since 2017.

With 19 points and seven rebounds for Portland, Trendon Watford was selected as game MVP. “They made a run in I think the late third or the fourth. We stuck together and when we came back in, we turned it up and I’m just proud of all these guys, man,” Watford said following his team’s victory.

Brandon Williams was the leading scorer on the night with 22 points, while the Knicks had five players who scored within doubles figures, led by Quentin Grimes with 19 points, who was followed by Miles McBride with 17 points, Jericho Sims with 13, and Feron Hunt, and Micah Potter with 10 points each.

On the back foot for much of the first quarter, two back-to-back 3-pointers put the Blazers back in the game with a 21-14 lead. Seven 3-pointers later, the Trail Blazers built an 11-point lead over the Knicks. From there, Portland expanded their lead to 16 points in the third quarter before wrapping up the game in the final quarter.

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The Portland Trail Blazers and their superstar Damian Lillard made another spectacular comeback on Tuesday night. Despite trailing 17 points with less than six minutes left on the clock against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Blazers managed to turn the game around and come out with a spectacular 125-124 win.

Portland dug themselves a deep hole with poor defense in the first three quarters, allowing 30+ points in each period. The fourth quarter continued in the same manner, and the Pelicans were up 117-100 with 5:55 remaining in the game.

At that point, the Blazers’ defense finally started to click while the team proved critical on the offense as well. They embarked on a 16-0 run in the next three minutes and were suddenly back in the contest.

New Orleans managed to stay ahead until the final 10 seconds, with All-Star forward Brandon Ingram having an opportunity to close out the game with two free throws. Ingram, usually a safe bet from the line, surprisingly missed both and opened the door for the Blazers.

On the next possession, Lillard was fouled almost immediately and went on to sink both of his free throws to make it 123-124. Portland then got the ball back after the Pelicans’ Nickeil Alexander-Walker lost the ball on the inbound.

Lillard returned to the free-throw line after another foul and scored two more to make it 125-124. New Orleans managed to get off the last shot, but Zion Williamson failed to make it count.

Lillard was the star of the night, scoring 50 points and dishing 10 assists. Gary Trent Jr. added 22 points while no other Blazer scored more than 10.

“We needed some things to go our way,” said Lillard after the game. “B.I. misses two free throws. Then we come down back on the defensive end, and on the inbounds pass, they fumble it out of bounds. So some things had to go our way on top of us putting stops together and making timely plays on defense and offense.”

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The Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons is expected to miss four to six weeks of action as he is set to undergo thumb surgery, the team confirmed on Friday. The 24-year-old player injured his thumb during Portland’s season-opening 123-111 loss to the LA Clippers on Wednesday night.

The Trail Blazers confirmed that Simons underwent an MRI on Monday that revealed a tear to the ulnar collateral ligament in the thumb. Having made 18 points during the game, Simons had to be replaced by Shaedon Sharpe, who started Friday’s 97-102 loss against Orlando Magic.

“Ant’s the kind of player that he’s gained a type of respect where whether he’s making shots or not, you have to play him a certain way,” coach Chauncey Billups commented. “You game plan for him. We’ll miss that. We’ll miss, obviously, his shot-making and his play-making. You miss those things.”

The post Trail Blazers’ Anfernee Simons Sidelined Through Injury appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard scored 60 points for the fourth time in his career to lift his team to a 134-124 win over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night. In addition to the high total, Lillard also turned heads with his efficiency, needing just 29 shots and 10 free throws to do so.

Rick Barry in 1974 is the only player to have equaled Lillard’s tally with fewer free throw attempts. As a result, Lillard posted the highest true shooting percentage (.898) ever in a 60-point game.

“That was incredible, man,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups exclaimed after Lillard’s performance. “You don’t get to see that very often, to be that efficient. For a guy to score 60 points and only 10 free throws and make nine of them, you’re thinking either this dude has an absurd amount of 3s. It was just incredible how efficient he was.”

Lillard also proved to be a highly-precise shooter from distance, scoring nine three-pointers to tie for the second-most in history in a 60-point game. The record for the most three-pointers is also held by Lillard himself.

The post Damian Lillard Makes History in 60-Point Game Against Utah appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The Portland Trail Blazers defeated the New York Knicks 85-77 on Sunday to lift the 2022 NBA summer league championship, marking the team’s third appearance in the final and second title since 2017.

With 19 points and seven rebounds for Portland, Trendon Watford was selected as game MVP. “They made a run in I think the late third or the fourth. We stuck together and when we came back in, we turned it up and I’m just proud of all these guys, man,” Watford said following his team’s victory.

Brandon Williams was the leading scorer on the night with 22 points, while the Knicks had five players who scored within doubles figures, led by Quentin Grimes with 19 points, who was followed by Miles McBride with 17 points, Jericho Sims with 13, and Feron Hunt, and Micah Potter with 10 points each.

On the back foot for much of the first quarter, two back-to-back 3-pointers put the Blazers back in the game with a 21-14 lead. Seven 3-pointers later, the Trail Blazers built an 11-point lead over the Knicks. From there, Portland expanded their lead to 16 points in the third quarter before wrapping up the game in the final quarter.

The post Trail Blazers Win NBA Summer League appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The Portland Trail Blazers and their superstar Damian Lillard made another spectacular comeback on Tuesday night. Despite trailing 17 points with less than six minutes left on the clock against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Blazers managed to turn the game around and come out with a spectacular 125-124 win.

Portland dug themselves a deep hole with poor defense in the first three quarters, allowing 30+ points in each period. The fourth quarter continued in the same manner, and the Pelicans were up 117-100 with 5:55 remaining in the game.

At that point, the Blazers’ defense finally started to click while the team proved critical on the offense as well. They embarked on a 16-0 run in the next three minutes and were suddenly back in the contest.

New Orleans managed to stay ahead until the final 10 seconds, with All-Star forward Brandon Ingram having an opportunity to close out the game with two free throws. Ingram, usually a safe bet from the line, surprisingly missed both and opened the door for the Blazers.

On the next possession, Lillard was fouled almost immediately and went on to sink both of his free throws to make it 123-124. Portland then got the ball back after the Pelicans’ Nickeil Alexander-Walker lost the ball on the inbound.

Lillard returned to the free-throw line after another foul and scored two more to make it 125-124. New Orleans managed to get off the last shot, but Zion Williamson failed to make it count.

Lillard was the star of the night, scoring 50 points and dishing 10 assists. Gary Trent Jr. added 22 points while no other Blazer scored more than 10.

“We needed some things to go our way,” said Lillard after the game. “B.I. misses two free throws. Then we come down back on the defensive end, and on the inbounds pass, they fumble it out of bounds. So some things had to go our way on top of us putting stops together and making timely plays on defense and offense.”

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